Litte Red Wagon
by PockymonX3
Summary: A promise is a promise, even if it takes you years to follow through. Just a cute little one-shot with Axel and Roxas.


**A.N: I'm back with another one! This is actually just a cute fluff piece with Axel an Roxas when they were little kids. I've had it saved on my computer for ages and just got around to finishing it. Two fics in one day! Whoo!**

**Also: Don't laugh at the song I made up for this. It's cheesy and stupid and I fail at rhyming. But you know what? I think it's cute! So nyah~.**

**Disclaimer: I do not, have not, and will never own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. This is purely fiction.**

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The morning was crisp and cool, sun rising slowly on the horizon, giving light to the spring air. It burned away the mist that hung low on the ground, dusting the grass with dew. The landscape was picturesque, endless fields of rolling green hills, wind teasing the long grass into swaying in a gentle dance. Birdcalls could be heard in the distance, several flying overhead in hectic patterns. The serenity of the moment was shattered by a voice, laughing and calling out, happy and carefree.

"Come on, Axel!"

A youth appeared at the top of one hill, turning and beckoning to something unseen. It was a boy, looking no more than nine years old, panting lightly from running all the way from his home, a few rises over. His eyes were blue and sparkling in the light, coupled with a breathless and excited smile on his lips. His face was rounded slightly, his cheeks flushed, with dirty blonde hair sticking up every which way atop his head. His clothes were simple and already green with grass stains that didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. An exasperated sigh came from lower down on the hill as another boy came into view, Axel.

"Geez, Roxas. I don't know how you can have so much energy in the mornings."

Axel was a few inches taller than Roxas, which came with him being a year or so older than his friend. His hair was long and red, a bed of messy spikes no matter how much he ran his hands through it. His eyes were green and joking despite the whining manner of his voice. The reason for him taking so long was the fact that behind him he was towing a little red wagon, a baby tree resting in a dull brown pot inside it. They'd come out to the fields that morning to plant it, which was obvious by the shovels that were also in the wagon, weighing it down even more for poor Axel. But they'd reached their destination now, and Roxas was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Come on, come on! We gotta get started if we want to finish before lunch!" The blonde had ignored the other's complaint, immune to any and all negative things today. He grabbed one of the shovels, looking around for the spot that they had marked a couple of days before. He let out a small satisfied noise as he spied it, a circle of pure white stone that sparkled in the sunlight. He dashed over to it, Axel following him, muttering how he hated mornings.

They began to dig as the sun rose in the sky, Roxas humming a tune under his breath. He was working out words in his head and he finally glanced at Axel when he recalled the song they'd made up the same day they'd marked the spot for their tree. It was a song about the tree, actually. An apple tree that their moms' had finally agreed to buy for them after cracking under the pressure of the boys' pleading eyes the entire winter. He began to sing it slowly, glancing at Axel, imploring him to join in. With a sigh, he consented, singing along with his friend.

"_Apples, apples, they're so sweet._

_My very favorite summer treat._

_It's not ice cream, _

_That makes me scream._

_But yummy all the same!_

_Pretty green and red_

_In dreams when I'm in bed._

_Apples, apples, they're so sweet._

_The very yummy, bestest treat!"_

They'd gone through the song several times before the hole was deemed big enough and they set to work planting it with extreme care, just as their mothers' had taught them.

After it was done, they packed up and began their walk home. The sun was almost to its zenith, shining down warmly in the cloudless sky. Axel was stuck with the wagon again, although this time he didn't seem to mind it as much as before. It was much lighter without the tree now, only the dirty shovels clattering in it now. The little sapling was sitting on the hill now, branches moving about slightly in the wind.

"Hey, Axel…"

"Hm?"

"Promise me that when the tree is bigger, we'll come back here and eat apples."

"That's silly, Roxas. Of course you know we're—"

"Promise!"

The sudden severity in both the blonde's voice and expression startled Axel into stopping suddenly, the wagon bumping into his calves. Roxas was holding out his right hand, pinky up, a frown on his brow as he stared Axel down. With a sigh and a smile, the redhead locked pinkies with his friend, shaking his hand like that.

"I promise."

Roxas broke into a smile then, content and released Axel's pinky. He continued walking on, an extra bounce in his step now. As they neared their homes, Roxas turned to Axel with a sly smile, a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"You know, your pinky will fall off if you break that promise, now."

* * *

**((Many Years Later))**

The shade of the apple tree helped Roxas to look up the clouds rolled by without harming his eyes. In his hand he held an apple, the shiny red fruit indented with a single bite mark. He let out a small sigh and bit into it again. He smiled a little as he chewed, enjoying the sweet flavor it contained. For years he and Axel had taken care of the tree every day until Axel had moved away. Since then, Roxas worked hard alone to keep the single tie he had left to his friend thriving. When apple season came around, the tree always produced sweet apples and plenty of them. Roxas had attributed the taste to how hard he and his friend had worked at it for all those years. Without his red-haired companion, though, everything seemed to lack a bit of shine around the tree now.

Axel had promised to come back when the tree was big enough to make apples. He hadn't been back once since the move and in the back of his mind, Roxas knew he shouldn't have lied like that. His pinky fall off? A horrible impossibility. Axel probably hadn't seen it fit to come back after such a childish threat.

Over a hill, Roxas spied a curious thing. A swaying mass of red grass, spiked up and looking strangely like hair. It grew in height and came closer to the blond. His heart caught in his throat. _It couldn't possibly be…_

Then a face formed beneath the red spikes, green eyes looking towards the sky. Behind the older but still familiar person, held in tow by a black-gloved hair, was a little red wagon. Roxas stood, the apple in his hand falling forgotten to the ground. He reached his arms high above his head, waving like an idiot and not caring. His lips opened to form the words he'd said so long ago.

"Come on, Axel!"

At the sound of his friend's voice, Axel's attention snapped from the sky to the familiar, younger boy standing in the shade of an apple tree. A grin stretching over his face, he started to run, dragging the wagon as it bounced along behind him. He laughed as he drew nearer, slowing to a stop only when he had to else he'd run into Roxas.

"Hey. Long time no see," the red-haired male said to his friend. The other's blue eyes were watering with tears and he threw his arms around Axel, crying openly over the return of his friend.

"Y-you came back! I thought… you had forgotten," he managed to say through his tears.

Axel gave a chuckle, dropping the wagon to hug his friend back. "After all these years you're still so emotional. Of course I came back. I promised, didn't I?"

At his words Roxas only cried harder, pulling back only to wipe his tears on his shirtsleeves. He smiled up at his fiery friend before sitting down and patting the spot besides him. "Sit down, Axel. Tell me how you've been."

They exchanged stories of their time apart before going back into times when they'd been together, laughing over their antics all the while munching on the apples that they had grown together. Even, after much prodding on Roxas's part, Axel had relented to singing their song one more time, his face the color of his hair the entire time. When the sun began to set that day, Roxas sighed and leaned against his friend.

"I'm so glad you came back, Axel," he whispered, glancing up at his friend.

Axel threw an arm around Roxas's shoulders, looking down at him. His grin was large with one side of his mouth slightly raised over the other. The familiar joking light was back in his eyes.

"I had to. I didn't want my pinky to break of, did I?"

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**So I know it's pretty short, but I just really wanted to write something cute and fluffy for once. I like it. It makes me feel happy inside. And maybe a bit outside.**

**So, chibi-dears, thoughts? Should I just stick to writing depressing things?**


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